Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Saturday…along with the minimums Saturday:

88 – 79  Lihue, Kauai
92 – 78  Honolulu, Oahu – tied the record high temperature Saturday…back in 2005
88 – 77  Molokai
92 – 78  Kahului, Maui – the record high temperature Saturday was 96…back in 1953
90 – 80  Kailua Kona
87 – 73   Hilo, Hawaii

Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands, as of Saturday evening:

2.57  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.53  Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.02  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.03  Hana AP, Maui
0.58  Saddle Quarry, Big Island

The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph)…as of Saturday evening:

24  Waimea Heights, Kauai – E
32  Kuaokala, Oahu – E
29  Molokai – NE
32  Lanai – NE
38  Kahoolawe – NE
40  Maalaea Bay, Maui – NNW
37  Kohala Ranch, Big Island – NE

Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live web cam on the summit of near 13,800 foot Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. This web cam is available during the daylight hours here in the islands…and when there’s a big moon shining down during the night at times. Plus, during the nights you will be able to see stars, and the sunrise and sunset too… depending upon weather conditions.


Aloha Paragraphs

http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_ir_enh_west_loop-12.gif
Hurricane Hilda continues to head in the direction
of the Hawaiian Islands…although there will be
a decrease in strength as Hilda gets closer


Here’s a real time wind profile of Hilda and our islands

 

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/tc_graphics/2015/graphics/EP102015W.gif
Hurricane Hilda is in our central Pacific, and is a
very significant storm…taking a course towards our
Hawaiian Islands

 

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/tc_graphics/2015/probwinds/EP102015_PROB34_F120.gif

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
Category 3 hurricane Hilda is to our east-southeast,
a small compact system


http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg
There’s an area of clouds to the northeast…heading for our islands


http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Most of the showers are over the windward sides…with
some exceptions – looping radar image

 

Small Craft Advisory…for waters around Maui
County and the Big Island

High Surf Advisory…east shores of Maui and the
Big Island

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



The trade winds have returned, and will prevail through the first couple of days of the new work week ahead. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean, along with a real-time wind profiler of the central Pacific. We find moderately strong high pressure systems to the north of the state. At the same time we have the remnant low pressure system of Guillermo moving away offshore to the west. Our classic trade winds have filled back in over the state now, in the wake of Guillermo’s passage. Looking ahead, our trades will last until Hilda gets closer to our area, at which point they may falter again, bringing back very warm and sultry conditions to the state of Hawaii around the middle of next week…stay tuned.

Radar imagery shows that showers are falling here and there, although not many at the time of this writing. As the trade winds continue to pick up, we’ll see passing showers at times, especially during the night and early morning hours…along our windward coasts and slopes The leeward sides in contrast will have fewer showers, with pleasant weather prevailing in general. The wild card next week is what kind of weather change Hurricane Hilda, which will probably have been downgraded to a tropical storm as it nears the state, will present to us then. The latest CPHC forecast track above, shows Hilda remaining offshore to the northeast, which would keep this tropical cyclone away from the state…stay tuned.

Hurricane 10E (Hilda) remains active in our central Pacific…and is a powerful major category 3 hurricane! Category 3 hurricanes have sustained winds that range between 111 and 129 mph. Hilda currently has winds of 115 mph…with gusts to near 138 mph. Here’s a satellite image, and what the computer models are showing. It appears that this tropical cyclone, in whatever form that it will be in new week ahead, will influence our local weather conditions in the Wednesday through Saturday morning time frame.

It looks very likely that Hilda will come close enough to the Aloha state, to bring us a noticeable shift away from the current trade wind weather pattern. It’s too early to know the exact details, although looking at the situation from here, we could find very rough surf along our southeast through northeast shores, tropical depression (<39 mph) force winds locally, and rainfall. The anticipated weakening trend of this storm will be a result of cooler sea surface temperatures below, and strong 55+ mph wind shear aloft, as it moves under the subtropical jet stream.  As we all know however, these outlooks can and do change with time, as we saw with recent Guillermo…please stay tuned for additional updates 

I’ll be back with more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Saturday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here on Maui…It’s 555am Saturday morning, skies are mostly clear with some clouds along our windward sides…and still some volcanic haze (vog). This vog will be carried away by the strengthening trade winds today. The air temperature here in Kula, at my upcountry weather tower was 60.9 degrees, while it was 79 down at the Kahului airport and out in Hana…with a cooler 50 up at the summit of the Haleakala Crater at about the same time.

– It’s a hot afternoon here on Maui, even here in upcountry Kula, with my thermometer reading 85 degrees inside my weather tower. Most of Maui County is clear and very sunny, with temperatures down at the beaches into the lower 90’s easily. 

– We’re into the early evening hours now, and it is toasty, full-on tropical summer! I get spoiled living up here on the slopes of the Haleakala Crater, although on hot days, there isn’t all that much relief with elevation I’m afraid. When the breeze comes up a little, if offers a little relief, which feels nice.

Friday Evening Film: I’m happy to report that I saw another film, which was such a treat, after a long week of rather intense weather work. Seeing these films each week with my friends is very fun for me, one of my favorite outside activities! My friends Jeff and Svetlana and I saw the new film called Irrational Man, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Jamie Blackley, Meredith Hagner and Parker Posey…among many others. The synopsis: when a burned-out, brilliant professor – one who believes in lessons from life rather than textbooks – takes a job at a small college, everyone there is abuzz. He becomes involved with a teacher as well as a precocious student, but it takes a dramatic, existential act to turn his life around, and make him see the world through a much rosier and more positive perspective. Woody Allen directed and wrote this film.

This was a rather intense film, ranging between light and airy, to downright murderous. Obviously Woody Allen continues to pump out these very interesting films, and this one was no exception. I’ve seen many of his films, and I typically find them entertaining, sometimes very…and other times not quite as much. The acting was very good and engaging, really pulling one into the lively story. We remarked after the film that we all noticed Woody Allen’s personality being woven through much of the film…giving his famous touch to situations along the way. I especially enjoyed the dynamics between Joaquin Phoenix and very attractive Emma Stone. It was a very good film, with Svetlana thinking highly enough of it, to give an impressive A+ grade! Jeff and I were both a little reluctant to go that far, although thought enough of it to give B+ ratings. If you’re curious…here’s the trailer.


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

>>> Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones

>>> Gulf of Mexico: There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s a satellite image of the Caribbean Sea…and the Gulf of Mexico

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days over the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea or Atlantic Ocean

Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)

>>> Eastern Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclones

1.)   Shower activity associated with a broad area of low pressure located about 1000 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula has changed little in organization since yesterday. Some development of this system is still possible during the next day or two while it moves westward at around 10 mph, but drier air and unfavorable upper-level winds are expected to inhibit development after that time.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…20 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…20 percent

Here’s a satellite image of this area in the eastern Pacific – along with the NHC 5-day outlook

Here’s a wide satellite image that covers the entire area between Mexico, out through the central Pacific…to the International Dateline.

Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)

>>> Central Pacific:

Hurricane 10E (Hilda) remains active, with sustained winds of 115 mph, and is located about 655 miles east-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii. Hilda may have peaked in strength now, and if so, will drop down through the stages of the hurricane wind scale over the next several days. Here’s the CPHC graphical track map, a satellite image…and what the computer models are showing.

Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean:

Typhoon 13W (Soudelor) is now dissipating inland over China, located about 148 NM west of Taipei, Taiwan. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map…and a satellite image…and what the computer models are showing – Final Warning

Tropical Depression 15W (Molave) remains active, located about 405 NM south of Yokosuka, Japan. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map…and a satellite image…and what the computer models are showing – Final Warning

>>> South Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones


>>> North and South Indian Oceans: There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)


Interesting: History of Agriculture Revealed – Open any history book and you’re likely to find that the practice of agriculture was invented 12,000 years ago in the Levant, an area in the Middle East that was home to some of the first human civilizations. But a new discovery recently made in Northern Israel seems to have shattered the myth on the advent of agriculture, offering up exciting evidence that trial plant cultivation, what we call agriculture, began far earlier – some 23,000-years-ago.

Researchers from Israel’s Tel Aviv, Bar-Ilan and Haifa Universities, with participation from Harvard, recently uncovered the first weed species at the site of a sedentary human camp on the shore of Israel’s Sea of Galilee, the location where prehistoric communities cultivated the first plants for human consumption.

“While full-scale agriculture did not develop until much later, our study shows that trial cultivation began far earlier than previously believed, and gives us reason to rethink our ancestors’ capabilities,” TAU’s Prof. Marcelo Sternberg said in a statement. “Those early ancestors were more clever and skilled than we thought.”

‘Our ancestors were more clever and skilled than we thought’

Though weeds are typically considered a threat or nuisance in contemporary farming, their presence at the site of the findings revealed the earliest signs of trial plant cultivation — some 11 millennia earlier than conventional historical thought regarding the onset of agriculture.

The site, which was built by fisher-hunter-gatherers, was found to be unusually well-preserved, having been charred, covered by lake sediment, and sealed in low-oxygen conditions — ideal for the preservation of plant material. Hence, weed species and harvesting tools found at the site provide clear evidence of early farming.

“This uniquely preserved site is one of the best archaeological examples worldwide of the hunter-gatherers’ way of life,” Sternberg says.

Prehistoric plant cultivation

The site bears the remains of six shelters and a particularly rich assemblage of plants. Upon retrieving and examining 150,000 plant specimens, the researchers determined that early humans there had gathered over 140 species of plants. These included 13 known weeds mixed with edible cereals, such as wild emmer (wheat), wild barley, and wild oats.